Jesus often warned his disciples about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. In Luke chapter 17 he also exhorted his followers to watch themselves. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg leads us through four questions. to check ourselves for evidence of hypocrisy. He began with the question, Am I causing others to sin?
And today he picks up with, Am I learning to forgive? The disciple of Jesus needs to be honest and straightforward. calling attention to wrong behaviour rather than slandering the individual behind their back. And where there is repentance, there will be forgiveness. And so the believer mustn't be the kind of person.
Who bears grudges. Instead, he must be the forgiving person. And so he says, if he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says, I repent, then forgive him.
Well, does that mean that if he goes over the top and goes to the eighth time, the eighth time you don't have to forgive it?
So you keep a little ledger. Seven, you're coming up to seven, you do one more, you're on your own. No, that's not what he's saying. It's simply a picture. He says your approach should be a continual and habitual forgiveness.
Forgiveness. is not a feeling. It's a promise. People tell me all the time, I can't forgive. It's not that you can't forgive, it's that you won't forgive.
If I forgive somebody something. then at least this is involved. One, if I say to you, I forgive you. then I'm telling you that I will not bring the matter up to you again. I will not bring it up to you again.
I'm forgiving you. Secondly, I want you to know that I will not bring the matter up with anybody else again. You may be sure that if you see me talking in the grocery store to Mrs.
So-and-so, that I am not talking about you and I am not talking about that incident because I told you I forgave you. I'm not talking to you about it again, and I'm not talking to them about it again, and I'm not talking to myself about it again.
So if you see me staring off into space, you may be sure that I am not regurgitating the incident that involved you and me, concerning which there had to be rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness.
Now when that happens, it is liberating, it is life transforming, and people can move on. But people say, you know. If I can't forget, I'm not going to forgive.
Well, let me tell you something if you won't forgive I can guarantee you you will never forget. If you forgive, there is a possibility that you may forget. But if you decide that you cannot forgive until you forget, then welcome to the subterranean tunnels of your own bitter heart. Live there for the rest of your sorry lives. Breathe the gases.
Live with its obnoxious influence, and as a result, be totally impervious to the truth of God's word and the exhortations of his people. Who wants to live there? Who wants to live in a dungeon of our own creation?
Now, you know that I begun listening to Willie Nelson again. The Bible says you should confess your sins to one another, so I may as well. And the other day I was listening to a great song, and I'm not gonna sing it to you, you can relax. But the line is Forgiving you is easy. Forgetting seems to take the longest time.
That's right. That's honest. Those are the facts. God in Himself possesses the capacity to choose to remember our sins no more. We don't.
Therefore, unless we have a frontal lobotomy, we are stuck with the fact that things come back across the screen. But every time you see it, Coming across the screen, hit it the way you hit that thing that says, no thanks on your computer, okay?
So, when the devil comes and he drags around in the garbage cans of sins that have been forgiven and goes rustling around in your past and brings things up in front of your face, hit the delete button immediately. No thanks. I have determined to forgive. I will not bring it up to myself. I will not bring it up to another.
And I will not bring it up to you. It's on the test. Am I causing others to sin? Secondly, Am I learning? to forgive.
And incidentally, the sphere of our forgiveness, the circle of confession, needs to be no larger than the circle of offense. Don't go around confessing to everybody every wrong thought you've ever had about them. Seneca, the Roman, said If everybody knew what everybody else said about them, there wouldn't be two friends in the whole universe. That's the truth.
So, if what you're going to start doing now as a result of some mismanagement of the text of Scripture is go around sharing with everybody in the congregation the sin that remains in your heart that is actually known only to God and known to yourself, well, it should be confessed to God alone. Confessions of lust, of anger, of envy. to a person totally unaware of what you're thinking. is not liberating. It actually can lead to further sin and unnecessary hurt.
Do you understand this? I'm always suspicious of people who come to me and say, Well, I just feel that I have a few matters to clean up. I want to tell you all the heinous things I've been thinking about you for the last six years. I say, Oh, spare me that, please. If you could tell God that, that would be wonderful.
But please don't tell me, because I'm about overloaded thinking about the heinous things I know about myself without knowing all the things that you feel you've got to mention to me. Can you imagine how long we'd have to stay here today if everybody started off? We'll just go on a line. Why don't we put 10 up the front and all come forward?
Okay, Henus thought number one through 580 over here on the right, and on and on and on and on and on. The sphere of offense If it is private, it should remain private. The sphere of offense, if it is public, needs to be dealt with in a public fashion. That is why the Bible says that if an elder sins publicly, if he is open and flagrant in his sin, therefore he should be rebuked publicly.
Now don't start charging around here. babbling and Brooding. Because your secret sins should be confessed secretly to God. and your private sins. should be confessed privately.
to the injured party. This isn't easy, is it? I don't find it easy. David Livingston. Who was on the receiving end of all kinds of slanderous accusations because he went in time to Africa without his wife?
They said that because his wife wasn't present, it was because of the disintegration in his marital status and so on, none of which was true. He was concerned because of the brutality of the circumstances in Africa that his wife would not be harmed by it. Therefore, he left her at home until he could conclude that it was safe for her to come. And 20 years after all of the hurt through the malicious gossip and the idle talk, in writing to a friend, he wrote these words: I often think I have forgiven. as I hope to be forgiven.
But the remembrance of the slander often comes boiling up, although I hate to think of it. You must remember me in your prayer that more of the Spirit of Christ. may be imparted to me. Granting forgiveness is not some kind of shallow, oh, it's just okay. Forget it, it doesn't matter.
The granting of forgiveness is directly related to our repentant heart. In other words, Jesus Uh hopefully The listeners were putting together the things that he was saying, and he had already told them the story of the prodigal. And he says, Now, I want to make sure that you, when you have a repentant brother, forgive him. And their minds would have said, Oh, you mean They mean like the way the father treated the boy rather than the way the brother treated his brother. Jesus said, That's exactly right.
I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Hey, let's have a party. This is fantastic. And the elder brother refused to go into the dancing. Yeah.
Because he was a Pharisee. He refused.
Now there's just two more and I'll mention them quickly and we're done. Question one: Am I causing others to sin? Question two, Am I learning to forgive? Question three: Am I living by faith? When he finishes these statements, the disciples say to him, Increase our faith.
And Jesus responds Makes it clear that they don't need more faith. They just need the right kind of faith. They need vigorous living faith. As one has said, it's not so much great faith in God that is required as faith in a great God. And once again, look at the picture Jesus uses.
If you've got faith as small as a mustard seed, The tiniest seed planted by a Palestinian farmer. You can say to this mulberry tree, Up. and into the sea, and it will obey you. The mulberry tree the rabbis held had roots that would remain in the earth for 600 years.
So firmly rooted that to remove it would be very difficult. And Jesus decides to take these two pictures and put them together. He says: if you've got faith like a mustard seed, it's tiny, you can't hardly see it, you can say to a rooted tree that has got the potential to live in the ground for 600 years: hey, jump in the sea, and it will jump in the sea.
Now what is Jesus teaching? Is this adv advice for horticultural students? Is this uh is this advice on how to uh rearrange the vegetation in i in your uh in your seascape cottage? Clearly not. It's a picture!
And the people who always want to say, well, you know, you don't really believe in this kind of faith. If you believed in this kind of faith, then this would happen and that would happen. Listen, the people who tell me all about that, I never saw one of them yet, take a mulberry tree and chuck it in the sea. Oh, yes, we believe the Bible. We believe that what Jesus said He meant.
Well, do you believe that what He was saying was you're supposed to be able to walk up the mulberry trees and throw them in the sea? Is that what He's saying? Clearly not. He is using a picture. He's saying if you have childlike trust in the promises of God, then you can be involved in that.
which so clearly overturns our dependence. Upon reason. and upon probability. And upon experience And the disciples, of course, as they listened to him speak. We're about to discover post-Pentecost Just how dramatic.
What he was saying would prove to be.
Well, let's turn to the final question because our time is gone. The last question is, am I doing my duty? Am I doing my duty? Don't be put off by this little parable in verses 7 to 10. Don't read it through your 21st century eyes, first of all.
Try and read it in the context of the time. which is the context of uh leverage And obligation. Throughout Luke, Jesus has been pointing out that people like to live in such a way as to put people in a spirit of obligation to them.
So if I do this, then you'll have to do this in response. That's why he said, if you love those that love you, what reward do you have? There's no big deal in that. If you give to people who can give a party at their house that is equally as good as yours, it's not wrong, but it's no big deal. But if you will take and give to those who cannot give in return, then your reward will be eternal rather than immediate.
In other words, he's turning lifestyles upside down. And it is in that context that he then asks this question. Don't misunderstand it, but he asked the question in verse 9: Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? What he means is not, would he say thank you to him? Or would he violate social politeness?
What he is saying is this. Does the master come to all the servants special privileges? because the servant fulfills his daily responsibilities. A servant who simply completes his work efficiently doesn't place his master under any obligation to reward him.
Now what's Jesus doing?
Well he's addressing the tendency on the part of the servants, his servants, to start to feel that they might be entitled to some special marks of honor. Oh, we are the servants of Jesus. We are the followers of Jesus. Remember, he said, Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. They like it when people say, My, my.
They like it when they say, Great prayer, Pharisee. They like it when they say, Oh, I saw you in such and such a place. He says, Beware of all of that stuff. Beware of falling into the idea that somehow or another, because you do your duty in relationship to me, that somehow or another you obligate me to you. That I, as your master, am now responsible somehow to provide you with special benefits and indications.
The fulfillment of the responsibility of the servant of Christ. is to be exercised in humility. For all the love that we may show, all the strength that we may know, all the time that we may give, all the faithfulness that we may express, is nothing other than Christ's gift to us. Because we can't get up in the morning without his enablement. We can't speak without his facility.
We can't hear without His divine provision. We can't understand unless he opens the eyes of our hearts. We cannot serve him unless he enables us.
So, do you think then that when we've done our duty at the end of the day, we're supposed to stand around and wait for the special accolades to be given out? Do you think that the rewards will be given out on the basis of how well we've done? Rewards will be an indication of God's grace as well. There is little doubt. People write to me and they say things, and I'm sure they do to you as well.
I forgive a personal allusion and conclusion here, but people write to me and they say, Thank you for allowing God to use you. I don't I I cannot theologize that sentence. I don't know what that means. I mean, is somebody actually saying that God can't use somebody unless the somebody allows God to use them.
So then presumably the somebody is stronger than God. That God is paralyzed until the somebody gets to the point where they're prepared to allow God to use them. Thus exalting the individual and diminishing God. In fact, the real question is. How in the wide world is it that one has been given the privilege?
of being allowed To serve him. The mystery is not that any one of us has, quote, allowed God to use us. The mystery is that any one of us has been granted the privilege. of being allowed To be used. Do you see how easily our ugly pride jumps up?
And we're standing waiting for the awards to be given out. Faithful service, faithful preaching, faithful this, faithful that. Here we are just waiting for you to come. Jesus says, Do you think that we should be having some big celebration just because you do your duty? Don't you realize that at the end of the day, You're an unworthy servant.
Then when you've had your best day, You're not that good. That's what he's saying! And any goodness you possess is the goodness that I supply.
Now let me give you a final thing and I'm done, definitely done. I just came from a conference in Colorado that was for musicians, all kinds of musicians, people that you would know, people whose albums you buy, C D's you listen to and on the on the radio and in in contemporary Christian music. And some that crosses over into the secular world. And it was a wonderful time and a privilege to be there and everything else. And um I was Listening to all the industry talk about contractual obligations and the prices for concerts and the different bits and pieces on CDs and who gets what and everything else.
And I've said to myself, you know, I really I really miss the boat here. I should have been a singer. But um Having heard myself sing, I can be a singer, so we'll just have to stick with what I've got. But I was listening to to all of these things and just uh remarking on it to myself. And as I walked out after my final talk, I noticed that there was a big sign and it said teaching tapes available here, seven dollars a tape.
Well, I said to myself, seven bucks a pop for my tapes. I wonder I wonder why no one asked me about that. I wonder why I never signed a release for that. I wonder what would happen if they bootlegged one of the music groups. And sold them for seven bucks a pop at a table when they were going out the door.
I wonder what the management would say, I wonder what the industry would say, I wonder what the agent would say, and so on. Because after all, that's their intellectual property.
So I'm saying to myself, well, I've got intellectual property. I mean, it may not be that intellectual, but at least it comes under the heading intellectual property. And I'm not getting any. There were only six tapes sold, I think, apparently. It It only amounts to $42, and only a Scotsman could get concerned over that.
But while I was thinking this way, Then I got back to the passage for today. And Jesus said, what are you concerned about? Your best day, you're an unworthy servant. Don't you remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9? When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast.
For I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward. In other words, if I said, excuse me, I'd like to volunteer as a preacher, then yeah, you may be able to get a reward for that. Because after all, it was you that initiated the thing, you were prepared to give your time and so on.
If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward. If not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this. That in the preaching of the gospel, I may offer it free of charge.
and so not make use of my rights. In preaching it. Then that was just Like that. Go to your room. And think about that for a while, beg.
And out? the flagpole of HMS Victory. Sir Admiral Lord Nelson sends The word to all the vessels in the fleets. Today England Expects Every man to do his duty. And here, with the fleet assembled and ready to go out into the seas again for another week.
Jesus sends the flags Up the land yards. Jesus Expects every man and woman. to do their duty. Are you ready? Take to the sea.
Rescue the perishing. Care for the dying. Tell them of Jesus. He's mighty to save. You're listening to Truth for Life?
That is Alistair Begg with some helpful questions we can ask ourselves. every day. There's a book that we are currently recommending that also invites you to ask questions if you serve in a leadership role. It has an unusual title. The book is called Both and Ministry: Living and Leading Like Jesus.
The reason for the title is because this book explores the contrasts in Jesus' leadership style. He led with a both and approach. For example, he taught with authority, but he also served with tenderness. He confronted sin, yet he welcomed sinners. He was patient, and he was urgent.
For those of us who are in leadership, whether it's local church leadership or leadership in the community, Jesus' model is not easy to emulate. This book on leading like Jesus invites us to explore these often opposing characteristics and to identify which way we naturally gravitate in a number of these key areas. For example, are you more people-centered or more organizationally-minded? Do you tend to lead from the front or do you tend to serve others first? Once you identify your natural tendencies, you can work to develop a more balanced approach.
Ask for your copy of the book Both and Ministry when you donate to Truth for Life today using our mobile app or online at truthforlife. org slash donate. or you can call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four.
Now here is Alastair to close with prayer. Lord God, when we ask, Am I causing others to sin? the answer is, Yes. Inadvertently, often, hopefully, not willfully, but Lord, forgive us. Are we learning to forgive?
Too slowly we fear. Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief. Are we living by faith? Wow.
So often, we're absent that childlike trust that takes you at your word with our future and with our relationships and with our fears and our families and so on. Help us, Lord. And are we doing our duty?
Well we want to be. We know you expect us all to do so. by your divine enabling. And so may the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Descend upon us, each one, today.
And be with us in the days that lie before us. Until the day when we see you face to face. and then forevermore. Amen. We're glad you studied the Bible with us this week.
Join us Monday when we'll learn about ten lepers who We were all miraculously healed. but only one of them had the appropriate response. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
